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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rest — a break
  4. field — for sport
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. field — farmland
  12. squash — to crush
  13. perch — the fish
  14. field — a subject
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rest — what's left
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. patient — a sick person

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com